Music festival begins

Vijayawada: LaNKaS, a music-based organisation dedicated to the promotion of classical music in Vijayawada and its surrounding regions, inaugurated its three-day musical festival on Monday evening at Velidandla Hanumantharaya Grandhalayam Hall.

The festival commenced with a vocal concert by K Subrahmanya Raju, who was ably accompanied by BVSS Krishna on the violin and K Karthikeya Adinarayana Sarma on the mridangam. Raju opened his recital with a vibrant Darbar Varnam, setting a classical tone for the evening. He then rendered Muthuswami Dikshitar’s “Swaminatha” in Nata raga, followed by Patnam Subramania Iyer’s “Paridanamichite” in Bilahari. The concert gained further depth with Tyagaraja’s “Paralokasadhana” in Poorvikalyani and the ever-popular “Sobhillu Saptaswara” in Jaganmohini.

The second half of the inaugural evening featured a vocal concert by K Alekha, with M Sri Ramya on the violin and T Krishna Vamsi on the mridangam providing excellent accompaniment. Alekha began her recital in the traditional manner with “Sri Vignarajam Bhaje” in Sri Ranjani raga and went on to present “Meenakshi Me Mudam” in Poorvi Kalyani. Lanka Bala Subrahmanyam and Madhavi conducted the programme.